Artificial nails are well known and commonly employed, mainly by women desiring the appearance of having longer finger nails than their natural ones and/or to repair or obscure a broken nail. Generally speaking, the artificial nails of the prior art can be characterized as falling into one of the following two classes: (1) preformed nails: and (2) nails which are applied as a viscous solution or paste with the aid of a suitable form affixed to the digit during application.
As examples of preformed artificial nails, mention may be made of those described and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,633,139; 2,746,460; 2,764,166; 2,979,061; 3,277,900; 3,487,831; 3,552,401; and 4,106,614. Generally speaking, preformed nails such as would be purchased in a package have an inadequately short life. Whether they are provided with an adhesive backing or applied with the aid of an adhesive coating composition, they tend to break off or separate from the natural nail too shortly after application. Moreover, preformed nails usually are not the precise size, particularly when one desires to apply artificial nails to less than all of the digits. In other words, they frequently do not have the "natural" look of the real nail, especially when comparison is made with the natural nail on another digit.
Consequently, virtually all artificial nails applied by professional beauticians today fall into the latter class, i.e. application by brushing or "painting" on a suitable artificial nail composition with the aid of a form secured to the digit. After the composition has hardened, the form is removed. Artificial nail procedures of this latter class are described and claimed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,756. In a typical procedure such as would be employed by a manicurist in a beauty salon, any existing nail polish is first removed and the nail is then lightly sanded to remove the shiny nail surface (top layer). A nail form is then placed on the finger. After the form is securely in place, a primer coating is applied to the natural nail with a small brush to increase adhesion of the applied artificial nail. After the volatile solvent for the primer has evaporated, a so-called "white tip" is then applied over the primer by first dipping the brush into a suitable organic solution, then picking up a ball or powder to form a paste which is rapidly applied in a series of steps, first on the form beyond the natural nail tip and then over the natural nail. Polymerization and hardening to form the plastic artificial nail occurs very rapidly in situ once the solution and powder are admixed and the operator must be highly skilled and move rapidly to shape this "white tip" into the desired shape of the nail. Controlling the amount of the liquid on the brush is a very critical part of this step and moreover care should be taken not to touch the natural nail with one's fingers to avoid transfer of oil and moisture which may cause the nail not to adhere properly.
Following application of the "white tip", a clear top coat of plastic is applied over the natural and artificial nails to increase the strength of the bond of the extended artificial nail to the natural nail and to give a smooth uniform appearance. The nail is then finished by removing the form, sanding, shaping, cleaning and, if desired, application of nail polish.
Because the polymerization and hardening to form the artificial nail occurs in situ shortly after admixture of the ingredients including the monomers, polymerization catalysts, etc., and the practitioner therefore has no control over the timing thereof, the artificial nails must be applied sequentially. A typical such procedure may take, for example, on the order of an hour and a half by a skilled operator to apply nails to all ten fingers.
These prior art procedures suffer from certain noted deficiencies. The operator must be trained and skilled in the shaping of the artificial nail in the short time between mixing the ingredients and hardening. As mentioned, each nail must be applied sequentially and further time is required for the finishing touches. Moreover, the known commercial procedures require the use of volatile solvents, the disadvantages of which will be readily apparent. For instance, some operators and/or their clients find the odor extremely objectionable. Technical problems may also occur. For example, occasionally the monomers in the composition do not polymerize uniformly.
In addition to the above-noted difficulties, the applied artificial nail is usually thicker in appearance and can therefore be detected on scrutiny. Further, they tend to soften the underlying natural nail. Other problems which sometimes occur include allergic reaction to the artificial nail composition, water mold, fungus, and lifting or separation of the artificial nail.
From the foregoing description of the prior art processes for preparing artificial nails, it will be seen that, although the technique of preparing the artificial nails by application of a viscous solution or paste is generally used commercially, this technique, like that of applying preformed packaged nails, suffers from certain noted deficiencies.
My aforementioned application Ser. No. 522,536 is in one aspect thereof directed to novel and improved procedures for applying artificial nails by the latter technique of coating on a viscous artificial nail solution which is then cured. These novel procedures utilize per se known organic solvent-free photopolymerizable compositions, the photopolymerization being preferably initiated in the presence of a so-called black light wherein any potentially harmful short wavelength light has been eliminated. These procedures may be employed in conjunction with any of the pre-existing forms heretofore known in the art or commercially available for the preparation of artificial nails. However, they are preferably employed in conjunction with the novel forms which are described and claimed in the application.
While the artificial nail procedures which are described and claimed in the aforementioned application Ser. No. 522,536 provide many significant advantages over the previously known techniques employing viscous coating compositions, in certain aspects they still have a disadvantage for some applications which is inherent in any in situ procedure. For instance, in any in situ procedure, one desiring an artificial nail is compelled to visualize the appearance in terms of shape and size from a form or the like and this may be difficult for some people to do. Should it turn out that the artificial nail so formed is in fact of smaller configuration than may be desired, it would ordinarily have to be removed and a new one applied. On the other hand, should it be larger than desired, sanding and/or cutting to shape is necessary. This of course is time consuming. Another factor which may be time consuming is the necessity for the client to be present during the entire procedure, including, of course, the manufacture of the artificial nail portion. In some instances, it may be more expedient for the artificial nail portion to be preselected and formed prior to the appointment with the client who need only be present, then, for the application or "gluing on" of this preformed nail to the natural nail.
Thus, it can be said that in at least certain instances, the concept of applying preformed artificial nails is inherently superior to the concept of forming the artificial nail in situ. The problem confronting practitioners of the art was that the known preformed nails were so inferior to those prepared in situ in terms of general appearance and/or durability that beauticians and manicurists always tended to employ the latter techniques.
The essential objective or task of the present invention essentially is to provide novel procedures for securing artificial nails to provide an artificial nail characterized as being durable, smooth and even, and having the general appearance of the natural nail, the artificial nail portion being securely adhered to the natural nail portion.
A primary object is to provide novel procedures employing preformed artificial nail tips, which procedures do not suffer from any of the heretofore noted deficiencies of the prior preformed nail tips while at the same time providing the advantages but not the disadvantages of the in situ formed nails.
Another object is to provide novel procedures for th "filler" maintenance of artificial nails periodically as the natural nail produces new growth.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent in the light of the following detailed description.